Call For Submissions Information

INVITE SUBMISSIONS OF SHORT PROSE, POETRY, SCREENWRITING & VIDEO WORKS

THAT RESPOND TO THE QUESTION “WHO IS A CITIZEN?”

SIX TOP ENTRIES WILL WIN $500. ONE ENTRY WILL WIN AN ADDITIONAL $500 THROUGH A COMMUNITY VOTE

ALL SIX WINNING WORKS WILL BE EXHIBITED AT THE BROAD ART MUSEUM IN SPRING 2020

Deadline: February 28, 2020

We invite submissions for Create a Situation: Text & Video Works. We invite you to submit literary and video works that respond to the question “WHO IS A CITIZEN?” The works submitted for consideration may explore racial difference and prejudice, nationhood and personhood, interpersonal and systemic racialized violence, marginalized identities and experiences, migration and conflicted borders, historical trauma, and other themes relevant to evolving notions of citizenship. All submissions will be considered by a panel comprised of Michigan State University faculty and will also be open, at a later stage, to a community vote.

This project is part of a cluster of events and projects linked to Claudia Rankine & John Lucas: Situations, a series of video works on view February 8th through May 31st, 2020 at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. This series is collaboratively produced by National Book Critics Circle Award winning poet and Macarthur genius Claudia Rankine and documentary filmmaker John Lucas. The Situation videos address the vexed notion of a post-racial United States by foregrounding the public and private experiences of black Americans. In the words of Rankine and Lucas, “these experiences [of racism, exclusion, and violence] turn into situations that resonate with us, not only as people, but as citizens.” Rankine’s book Citizen: An American Lyric (2014) offers much-needed representations and documentations of the micro- and macro-racist aggressions that occur throughout the social and political fabric of the United States. The work has been critically accredited for bringing national attention to police violence against black folx, racial prejudice, historical trauma, and implicit bias.

Your submission must include:

The original work. This work must adhere to the genre and medium specific requirements below.

A cover letter with your contact information, MSU affiliation, the title(s) of the work, and a short statement (200 words maximum) on how your submission responds to the question “WHO IS A CITIZEN?” The cover letter should be addressed to the judges panel. This letter can be written in the body of an email.

Genre and medium-specific requirements:

PROSE: 2000 words maximum. Please submit as one PDF file.

POETRY: 3 discrete pieces, maximum. Please submit as one PDF file.

PERFORMED & SPOKEN WORD: Performances should be recorded as audio or video. If audio, please submit as mp3 file; if video please submit as mp4. Recording in any format should not exceed 4 minutes. Video work should be submitted as a downloadable link hosted through Google Drive, We Transfer, Dropbox or similar facility. This link may be included in the cover letter.

SCREENWRITING: 25 pages maximum. Please send as PDF file.

VIDEO: Recordings should not exceed 4 minutes. Please send as high bit-rate .mp4 file. Video work should be submitted as a downloadable link hosted through Google Drive, We Transfer, or Dropbox. This link may be included in the cover letter.

Submitting materials:

Please submit the original work (or link to work) and cover letter to createasituationMSU@gmail.com. Video work should be submitted as a high bit-rate, downloadable link hosted through Google Drive, We Transfer, Dropbox, or similar facility.

Deadline: February 28, 2020

Winners will be contacted in March, 2020

We regret that we are unable to respond to all entrants. Please forward specific questions regarding this call for submissions to createasituationMSU@gmail.com